Beach!!!!!!!

I've FINALLY been to the ocean!!!

This past weekend, a group of about 30somthing college students and interns from my church went on a weekend retreat to Rehoboth Beach, DE. It was amazing!!!!!!! I'd never been to the ocean before, so I was totally freaked out of my mind!!

I WOULD FINALLY LEAVE THE RANKS OF "MIDWESTERNERS WHO'VE NEVER SEEN THE OCEAN!!!"

I've seen lakes, seas of grain, and oceans of cattle, but no natural body of water, and certainly no beaches. 

So the weekend started by leaving the church parking lot at around 10:15, then picking up students from GW and Georgetown and heading out on the open road!! We ate at Harris Crab House for lunch, which is amazing! It's right on the Chesapeke Bay, and everything served is caught fresh! NOTHING like the "seafood" we get in the midwest.

The drive from Harris Crab House to Rehoboth took about 3 hours, so we arrived at the beach houses around 3:30-4, relaxed a bit, explored, & started on the weekend!

We had group Bible challenges a few times a day, then some time in small groups of 4-5 to talk and reflect about what was talked about. All of the challenges were amazing. It was nice to get away from it all for a few days and have some quality time with the Lord and His followers. Realizing that you need to re-prioritize you life isn't a very easy thing to do, but when surrounded by other Christians, it becomes slightly less challenging. :)

During free time there were trips to the beach, 

exploring the town & the boardwalk,

AMAZING food, 

and the game "4 on a couch" was introduced to the group, as well as "psychiatrist" and "family," which quickly became the favorites. 

(if you are unfamiliar with these games, you are severely lacking in your life, and must be educated.) :-D 

 Saturday ushered in a VERY full day: Three challenges, group discussions & then personal time to just think about what was said in the challenges, a scavenger hunt that lasted most of the afternoon took up basically the entire day. The Scavenger Hunt was a RIOT! Everything from having strangers randomly point to the sky, taking a picture with a hermit crab, getting buried to your neck in sand (i did that!), jumping in the ocean (did that too!), doing the "Beatle's walk" across the street, and holding hands while crossing a crosswalk. haha Soo much fun!!!!

Mr. Crabs is a Hermit Crab! yay!

Sunday was the saddest day :( We had to leave! Nooo!!! But it was a good end to a good weekend. :) I got up early that morning to watch the rising sun on the beach, and ended up walking along the ocean for about an hour. It was gorgeous! 

I definitely want to stay here.